Sunday Readings for September 6-7, Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Jack Treloar, SJ | For On Mission
The last words of today’s Gospel reading are among Jesus’ most difficult sayings: “ … anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:33).” If we take this saying simply at face value, almost none of us could be disciples of Jesus. In the Gospels, we find a few instances of people who did exactly what Jesus asked. The Twelve Apostles seem to have followed Jesus literally. Peter, Andrew, James and John left their fishing nets and followed Jesus. Matthew, the tax collector, left his tax table and followed.
But what about all those others who were attracted to Jesus’ teaching and could not literally renounce all their possessions because of other duties: taking care of family members and elderly parents, or serving the needs of others?
First, we must recognize that Jesus sometimes employs the literary device of exaggeration to capture people’s attention. The saying in today’s Gospel is an excellent example. Jesus is well aware that most people need to earn a living, honor their parents and take care of their families. He is not asking his followers to reject these duties or let them hinder their discipleship. Yet, even if we allow for exaggeration, the saying remains challenging.
Secondly, when we discuss possessions, we generally refer to the ownership of material objects. Do we own, say, a diamond ring, or does the diamond ring own us? We can become so burdened by material possessions that they govern the way we lead our lives.
Money is a good example. Why is it that no matter how many billions of dollars someone might have, it is never really enough? Once a person reaches a certain level of wealth, they will never be able to spend it all. Money becomes an idol, possessing the owner rather than the other way around. Jesus encourages us to step away from this kind of idolatry.
Finally, when Jesus asks us to renounce our possessions, he encourages us to move away from our innate selfishness and regard the needs of others. Though he does not mention the poor and the outcast in this saying, they certainly must have been in his mind when he asked us to renounce our possessions. Renouncing possessions should not simply be haphazard, nor only toward friends and family; renunciation should be done with an eye to the welfare and needs of the less fortunate. We can view Jesus’ seemingly difficult saying as an encouragement to generosity.
If we take his words literally, we will experience only frustration because it seems impossible. But if we ask ourselves whether we have turned our possessions into idols, we understand Jesus telling us to get rid of the idol and worship the one true God.
Divesting ourselves of the idol in such a way to benefit those in need moves us into a genuine life of gospel observance.
The readings for Sunday, September 7, can be found at Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB.